The Kerala Law Academy. (R) Lekshmi NairThiruvananthapuram: The CPM's attempt to resolve the crisis in Kerala Law Academy at Peroorkada here has not yielded any result with principal Lekshmi Nair staying firm firm on her stance that she would not quit.
Lekshmi Nair, who has been debarred from exam duties for five years by Kerala University syndicate following allegations of harassment and favoritism, did not soften her stance even after the ruling CPM held talks with her father and academy director N. Narayanan Nair. Other directors, who are also her relatives, have supported her stance.
The academy director board will meet Monday to discuss the proposals made by the CPM for resolving the issues.
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CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan met Narayanan Nair, his advocate son Nagarajan Narayanan and brother Koliyakkode Krishnan Nair, a day after former chief minister and party veteran V.S. Achuthanandan strongly condemned the way in which the academy is being run and demanded immediate intervention of the Pinarayi Vijayan government. Rival parties have been accusing the ruling party of trying to shield Lekshmi Nair and her family.
Various student outfits, including CPM's student wing SFI, have been staging protests for the last 19 days seeking removal of Lekshmi Nair.
SFI activists staging strike on Kerala Law Academy campus. After the 45-minute discussion, Krishnan Nair, who is also a CPM state committee member, told Manorama News that he would abide by the party's decision on the issue. Narayanan Nair refused to comment.
However, Lekshmi Nair's brother Nagarajan Narayanan, speaking to the media after the meeting at the CPM headquarters, rejected the demand for her resignation.
"The right to work is a fundamental right and she has been a teacher for the past 27 years and it's her right to work, so the demand of her resignation is not acceptable," said Narayanan.
"A petition is coming up in the high court on Tuesday and even though we have been given police protection, it's not enough. Now we will wait to hear from the court," he said.
The private college, set up here in 1968, has till now enjoyed absolute support from successive state governments, enabling it to an 11-acre campus besides a prime plot of land in the heart of the city, where it has built a commercial complex with a private builder.
Jaick C. Thomas, who is the president of the state unit of the Students Federation of India, the student wing of the CPM, said there is no question of any dilution in their protests.
"Our main demand is that the principal has to step down and there's no going back on it," he said.
The image of the CPM has been dented as this is perhaps the first time that the party failed to intervene in a student protest, which by now has become the state's most talked-about event.
Those opposing the manner in which the academy is being run point out that when it was set up in 1968, there was a committee that had the state governor as its patron, besides the chief minister, ministers and judges as members, but now it is run only by the father and daughter duo.
The academy's alumni include many leading politicians, judges, lawyers, high-ranking police officers and bureaucrats and this is seen as the reason the father-daughter duo could so far ignore all past protests.
(With inputs from IANS)
